Current instructor

Michael Wagner

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.76/5 from 33 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

J201 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Prof Wagner's lectures are really engaging and interesting as he uses his own research in his class. The class can get political because of this, but he keeps a very unbias view when explaining different sides. The readings are sometimes lengthy but should be read, because you are expected to give two speeches in section based off of them.
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J201 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
Professor Wagner made a great well-rounded class with fair grades and expectations on work. That being said he on multiple occasions told students angrily to "shut up" in lecture. Overall, he was fantastic lecturer, and I understand managing a class for underclassmen can be frustrating, but how he addressed students in lecture felt unprofessional.
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J201 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
I took professor Wanger for J201 and if I wasn't already sure I wanted to do journalism, he was the nail in the coffin. Incredibly charismatic person and amazing, engaging lecturer
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J201 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
prowag is a funny and engaging lecturer. He made the material interesting, and other lecturers no doubt would have made it a snooze fest. He is also very well accredited and generally an obvious expert on the material, so he can talk in-depth and answer further questions well.
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J335 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Prof. Wagner is literally the best. Very encouraging and kind, yet also down-to-business and knowledgeable. I highly encourage you take any course you can with Prof. Wagner.
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J201 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Pro Wag made me fall in love with Journalism, and now I'm in the school and loving it. He has a positive energy as a professor, and made 9am lecture enjoyable and enlightening. Taking 201 with him freshman year pushed my boundaries in the best ways. Discussions were stressful, but that's due to our TA...Highly recommend taking Pro Wag's classes :)
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Michael Wagner

JOURN 699

Directed Study

1–6 credits

Directed Study offers advanced directed study projects arranged with a faculty or instructional academic staff member.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2017: 3.67 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=1 letter grades).

Michael WagnerLindsay Palmer+20 more

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2025–Spring 2025 · limited sample
JOURN 990

Thesis

1–9 credits

THESIS is an advanced course offering mentored reading and research for Journalism students with dissertator status.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Michael WagnerLindsay Palmer+14 more

No recorded grade history

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2027JOURN 681Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2027JOURN 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2027JOURN 691Senior Thesis
Spring 2027JOURN 692Senior Thesis
Spring 2027JOURN 697Internship
Spring 2027JOURN 699Directed Study
Spring 2027JOURN 990Thesis
Spring 2027JOURN 999Independent Research Problems
Spring 2027POLISCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2026JOURN 201Introduction to Mass Communication
Fall 2026JOURN 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026JOURN 682Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026JOURN 691Senior Thesis
Fall 2026JOURN 692Senior Thesis
Fall 2026JOURN 697Internship
Fall 2026JOURN 699Directed Study
Fall 2026JOURN 990Thesis
Fall 2026JOURN 999Independent Research Problems

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance 
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